Mary Schmidt Marketing Troubleshooter

Yet another example of “smash & grab” marketing - a fella who was apparently on a cold call quota to get as many potential suckers lined up as possible - to heck with what the individual suckers wanted.

I recently went online to research health insurance options - always trying to find a better deal, as I loathe spending all that money for something I hardly ever use. So, I fill out the online form that said I would get quotes online. No quotes came. Then, what happens? Yep, I start getting calls from salespeople. (Okay, I was dumb - without thinking I put my real phone number in the contact info; I usually put in a fake just to prevent cold calling.) One of the guys finally did reach me and did a good job of getting past my initial aggravation and managed to get my interest to the extent I said it sounded good and asked him to send me the documentation about what he was pitching. He refused, was adamant I had to meet with him in person…and then when I was firm about getting the materials before any meeting…he said/snarled, “Looks like we can’t do business” and hung up on me! Alrighty then.

Why do people continue to do cold calls? They’re even illegal in some states - and probably create far more ill will and downright sales aversion than dollars. Nobody likes ‘em - including some top direct marketing executives (several of whom were found to have placed their names on the “Do Not Call” list…oops.) For some food for thought - from the sales perspective - go here. (Yeah, they’re trying to sell you sales training, but their points are well made.)